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Pentecostalism is a movement; it is a trend within Christianity of a growing group that share characteristic beliefs and goals. The Charismatic movement is the influence of Pentecostalism among mainline church denominations. Though there are thousands of Pentecostal denominations worldwide, such as the Assemblies of God, the Apostolic Church and the Full Gospel Church, the Charismatic movement has shown that Pentecostalism transcends denominations.

A modern movement

Pentecostalism is also a modern movement because it emerged only recently in modern history. Its definite origin and unique theology distinguishes it from other movements in history, such as Montanism (a prophetic movement of the second century), that although similar, did not possess the doctrinal distinctives of Pentecostalism. Pentecostalism has a characteristic doctrinal teaching concerning “baptism with the Spirit”1 (or “Spirit baptism” for short) which is unique from any other past movement in history.

A reformation movement

Pentecostalism is also a reformation movement because it seeks to reform certain doctrines and practices of the past by its influence in the present. Pentecostalism not only began by reforming various doctrines of the past, but still today one of the goals of this movement is the continuing reformation of the church in these areas.

“It bears strong commonalities with evangelical doctrines while testifying to long-neglected truths about the work of the Holy Spirit...”2

A restoration movement

Pentecostalism is a restoration movement. It began with a belief that in its origin God was restoring New Testament Christianity to the church today by bringing a discovery and recovery of certain truths and experiences of the Spirit. And now by virtue of its rapid growth and huge worldwide influence, Pentecostalism today is increasingly bringing such a 'restoration' to the church because of the way it is “reshaping Christianity in the twenty-first century.”3

"Thus far the twentieth-century Pentecostal movement has succeeded in restoring the experiential dimension of the Spirit's dynamic presence to a significant segment of the church. Pentecostals believe that recovery of the doctrine and experience of being baptized in the Holy Spirit is comparable to the Reformation's recovery of the doctrine of justification by faith."4

A charismatic movement

Pentecostalism is also a charismatic movement because it characteristically emphasises the working and gifts of the Spirit,5 with a special focus on baptism with the Spirit, the gift of tongues and the other spiritual gifts of 1 Corinthians 12:8-10.

A unique charismatic movement

Pentecostalism is a movement with a distinctive doctrine of Pentecost that makes it unique among other charismatic movements in history. What makes Pentecostalism unique from other charismatic movements is its distinctive doctrine of Spirit baptism, and the priority this gives to the gifts of the Spirit, particularly the gift of tongues. This comes from a particular reading of the Pentecost events: Acts 2 when baptism with the Spirit was first given to Jews, and Acts 8, 10 and 19 when it was repeated among Samaritans, Gentiles and some of John's disciples. Pentecostalism teaches that baptism with the Spirit is a post-conversion experience of empowerment for supernatural Christian living, with “speaking in tongues”6 as the initial physical evidence.

Putting it all together:

Pentecostalism may be defined as a modern charismatic reformation movement with a distinctive theology of Spirit baptism that gives doctrinal priority to the gift of tongues.

However this definition does not include the fact that Pentecostalism also refers at times to a separate theological system with its own distinctive method, doctrines and practices.7

1 Baptism “in” or “with” the Spirit are synonymous terms. However baptism “by” or “of” the Spirit are misleading translations, because the Scriptures repeatedly indicate that this baptism was given by Jesus, not by the Spirit; that is, it is the baptism of Jesus, as opposed to the baptism of John – it was a baptism with the Spirit, or in the Spirit, as opposed to John's baptism that was with water, or in water. However, since Acts 2 and the OT Scriptures refer to this baptism as being a “pouring out” of the Spirit by Jesus, as opposed to an “immersion in” the Spirit, the translation “baptism with the Spirit” is the most appropriate.2 Gary B. McGee (Ph.D., Professor of Church History, Chair, Bible and Theology Department at Assemblies of God Theological Seminary), Systematic Theology, Chapter 1 “Historical Background”, Logion Press, 1995, p. 9.3 Harvey Cox, Harvard University.4 John W. Wyckoff (Ph.D., Professor of Bible and Theology, Chair, Church Ministries Division at Southwestern Assemblies of God College), Systematic Theology, Chapter 13 “The Baptism in the Holy Spirit”, Logion Press, 1995, p. 454.5 “Charismatic” comes from the Greek word, charismata, meaning “gifts.”6 While the Greek word for “tongues” (glossolalia) is literally “languages”, Pentecostals base their practice of tongues-speaking on ideas in 1 Corinthians 14, where the practice may not be associated with known languages. The use of this word in Pentecostalism is almost synonymous for “unknown utterances.”7 Examples of different theological systems are Calvinism and Arminianism, or Protestantism and Catholicism.

talkingpentecostalism.blogspot.com | joe towns: christian discussion on pentecost, charisma, pentecostal and charismatic beliefs, the Bible and Jesus; including the origin and history of pentecostalism, baptism in the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, gifts and miracles, divine healing and word of faith, prosperity and wealth, praise and worship, guidance and hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit.

Although Talking Pentecostalism is a site predominantly about Pentecostalism, it’s about Christianity more broadly too. The Pentecostal religion will 'reshape Christianity in the twenty-first century’. The Pentecostal or Pentecostalist movement and charismatic movements have become the most vigorous and fastest-growing family of Christians in the world. Unlike traditional Christianity which centers on the events of Easter and the crucifixion of Jesus, Pentecostal beliefs focus on the events surrounding the day of Pentecost and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that began then. Since 1980 the Pentecost movement has been the largest family of Protestants in the world, not including the charismatic Pentecostals in the traditional mainline churches. Since 1995 the Pentecostals and Charismatics have in global numbers become the second largest family of Christians in the world, after the Roman Catholicism. More recent figures have indicated that today there are well over half a billion Pentecostal and Charismatic believers worldwide. So the size and growth rate alone of the Pentecostal movement means that Pentecostalism will affect everybody in one way or another, whether directly or indirectly. But not only are numbers up, Pentecostal thinking is also increasingly widespread. This is a movement, not primarily interested in record statistics, but seeking a radical transformation of Christian thinking. Today's leading Pentecostals have acknowledged the goal of the Pentecostal movement as a universal transformation of the church, both theologically and practically. It is because the Pentecostal seeks to spread Pentecostalism beliefs that it is having such a dramatic reshaping of Christianity. At the heart of the movement is the story of Pentecost itself, and their story that goes with this of how understanding Pentecost can reshape, and in fact restore, true Christianity to the believer. Pentecostal history begins at the turn of the nineteenth century, however more recently in the 1970s the Neo Pentecostal movement (or New Pentecostalism) spread into mainline church denominations when Pentecostal worship began to have a profound influence on traditional Christian services, inspiring the Pentecostal charismatic movement, now referred to simply as the Charismatics. The history of Pentecostalism is vital in understanding Pentecostal doctrine. What is Pentecost? On the day of Pentecost, Jesus baptized his Church with the Holy Spirit. What is Pentecost about in the New Testament? Talking Pentecostalism answers this question and others like it in detail. What is Pentecostal? Pentecostals believe that recovery of the doctrine and experience of being baptized in the Holy Spirit is comparable to the Reformation's recovery of the doctrine of justification by faith. The Pentecostal movement seeks to restore the experiential dimension of the Spirit's dynamic presence to the believer and collectively to a significant segment of the church. What is Pentecostalism about? Talking Pentecostalism answers this question in more than a little detail, and others like it. Christians need to understand Pentecostalism, not only because of an increasing number of Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians in our midst, but also because the stated goal of the movement is an intentional change to traditional Christian thought. People need to understand Pentecostalism in order to be aware of its affect on their own Christianity, or to their view of Christianity. Coupled with understanding the Scriptures themselves, understanding Pentecostalism is the best way to ensure you are responding rightly to this new influence in Christian history. What is the Holy Spirit? How is the Holy Spirit involved in Christianity? Who is the Holy Spirit? Talking Pentecostalism answers these questions and more. We go into details not only about the Holy Spirit, what is Holy Spirit, who is Holy Spirit, but also how Pentecostalism has understood the answers to these questions and how this differs to traditional teaching on the subject down through history as well as more recent and wider evangelical thought.

Christian discussion on the Pentecostal movement, the history and origin of Pentecostalism, Pentecostal belief, charismatic theology, Pentecostals and the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, the day of Pentecost, baptism in the Spirit, speaking in tongues, gifts of the Spirit, praise and worship, prosperity doctrine, divine healing, guidance, destiny and the voice of the Holy Spirit. An Evangelical critique of Pentecostalism - talkingpentecostalism.blogspot.com by Joe Towns.